The Free and the Hated
by luvs2smooch
Summary: Naruto is sick and exhausted of life in Konoha. Everyone hates him, and since Suna attacked, things have been…difficult. So he wants out. And boy, is he gonna get it. Warning: Spoilers lie ahead! Review now.
1. My reasons

**Luvs2smooch: This is that sort of prelude chapter, giving you an idea of what is going on. It is from Naruto's point of view, although I cannot say whether or not the future chapters will be. Extreme OOCness. Please forgive it.**

**Summary: Naruto is sick and exhausted of life in Konoha. Everyone hates him, and since Suna attacked, things have been…difficult. So he wants out. And boy, is he gonna get it. Warning: Spoilers lie ahead!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

**The following chapter(s) contain(s) plenty of spoilers for both Naruto and probably my other stories, which they might ever so slightly tie into. **

**The Free and the Hated**

"That's it! I'm done with this!" Although I shouted with acute vigor, it was, for the most part, to myself. I was, simply and absolutely, sick of the bullshit hurled into my face every day on a regular basis. I was sick of the bullshitters I had to deal with. Sick of everything.

So I shouted to myself. May have even been a good alternative to talking to myself. I don't know. I did know that it helped me vent. A lot.

But today was slightly, ever the most different. Because today was tonight, and I was about to hit the sack. I had finally decided that the time had come to get the hell out. I just needed a game plan…I had hoped that one would come easy. To no avail whatsoever.

Wait, let me fill you in. The bullshitters? Sakura and Sasuke. My teammates. I sighed—they cared not an ounce about me…Oh, and the bullshit? Sakura's maladroit but honest rejections of even the most basic human interactions with me and Sasuke's superfluous and trying reactions to my every action that he did not approve, believed may be stupid, or merely disliked.

And so, I wanted to get the hell out. To leave behind all those who despised me and all that which tried me. That was the lone dream, the solitary vision that propelled my tired psyche through the repetitive days of ostracism and the perpetual, deathless nights of hatred. All I wished for, at that point, was to leave in peace. I wanted out.

But I doubted if anyone would allow me to leave in peace. Not the wind-swept, tempest-tossed boy who held all but hell within him. So I needed a diversion. Something to turn their cheeks in the other direction. Perhaps something to slap their cheeks into that direction. To not only escape, but to show them all what they themselves abolished from their lands, to show them the talent, nay, prophecy they had expunged. That would be quite satisfactory.

And so I sat down. I planned for a long time, into the dawn and late hours of the next day, before gratifying myself that it would be adequate. And that was only the draft.

Oh, yes…they had something coming to them.

**Awright, how was it? Please review and proceed if I've updated.**


	2. My Beginnings

**Luvs2smooch: Sorry I took so long. Thanks for the reveiws. It's no good excuse, but I haven't had much free time recently. Oh well. R&R!**

**The Free and the Hated**

The tendrils of dawn were taking their sweet time, and just waiting for the sunrise was killing me. Anko refused to meet me at any other time, so I had little choice but to follow her agenda. This training of hers, I knew, required such hours. Sure, both Anko and her training were necessary, but couldn't she just brew a cup of joe and meet me at a time when I can actually see her?

I clutched my own coffee closer, wishing it could warm my body as it did my hand. It was October, and everything was colder. I sighed through some shivers. Stuck on the Go Square, when I still had Boardwalk and Parking Place to conquer. I was already a week into my scheme. I was impatient, wanted to get out of here. Not just out this freezing forest, but out of the village. I was sick of it. But I knew that if I acted out too soon, such a precursor would bring my plan to shambles. So I had to stay low and quiet. Which only made me more anxious to be free.

I was jolted from my daydreams when a stray kunai buried itself and inch or so into the grassy earth at my feet. Both mildly surprised and plenty relieved, I gazed upwards to where I knew my 5 AM appointment stood. Dressed in here usual coat and skirt, I wondered briefly if he weather bothered her as it did me. Her next remark told me otherwise: "Cold?" She grinned complacently. Obviously weather no longer held much, if any, consequence to her. "So, do you have the floor plans?"

Now I smiled. I reached behind me and lightly took a kunai out of my pouch. Tossed it up to her and replaced it with the one at my feet. Anko looked quite stunned at my trick.

"Are you sure it's all in here?" She pointed at the kunai where it was know embedded into her tree as she spoke. I just grinned as I nodded, watching her hold it like a child does a new toy.

"Alright…" Just as quickly as she had materialized, she disappeared, swallowed by the night again. I wiped my brow as I sighed to myself. Phase One complete.

000

I rose out of my bed just as the sun began to peek through my curtains, already talking to myself.

"Morning. Excellent. Time to check the newspaper…and…yep, there it is. Front page, robbery at the Shigami Stronghold. Last night around 4. Bottom floor flooded, most other floors doused. Everything is wet. And, of course…'' I turned the page. "Yep, a Forbidden Scroll is missing. I wonder which one…Oh! They don't say. Restricted information? Perhaps, Perhaps." I chuckled, even as I talked to myself. Perfect execution, I'd bet. So far, so good.

"Hmm? A hole in the treasury vault? 'Far too small for anyone to fit through, said hole still has investigators puzzled…'"

I smirked. Everything had gone smoothly. Or so it would seem, anyways. My next tryst with Anko will affirm anything in doubt, I'm sure.

I dressed rather haphazardly, my mind in as other a place as humanely possible. Tripped into a pair of sandals and glanced at the clock. I frowned. I'd be late again. Of course, Kakashi usually was later than I, but I wanted to arouse no suspicions among anyone. So I decided I might as well make haste.

While I arrived at our meeting point (the old bridge) huffing, neither Sakura nor Sasuke seemed to take any note. Which was fine with me. After all, I—

"Naruto! ...You're late."

"Huh? I--" I looked up. Kakashi was standing on the gate. "Oh. Sorry, Kakashi-sensei." I tried to sound surprised, caught off guard.

I frowned inwardly. I didn't count on Kakashi actually being on time. Odd, I thought, that he should choose a day like today to arrive on time. That could mean nearly anything. But I had a good idea of what it was…

"I'll let it slide, this time anyways…" Hmm. An odd tone for Kakashi. Unusual choice of words as well. When I looked up, I could see him staring off again, across town from his perch on the gate, staring at something, something unknown to me. It looked as though he sighed. Then he looked down at us again.

"Yosh! I am sure you are all aware of the Shigami incident. A robbery, late last night, at the hallowed stronghold. You will all be glad to know that you three will be participating in the investigation. Here is a scroll-" -He chucked down a small scroll, tied shut with a red string and bow- "-which contains your briefings. Be prepared to leave tonight at 11. This is of high priority. As much of your traverse as possible must be completed at night. That is all," And then he vanished, making haste to what was presumably the Shigami.

I turned to look at Sasuke and Sakura, but they had both left. I smirked. Oh well. I have till 11. I strolled off towards the ramen shop, whistling a tunelessly.

**Luvs2smooch: How was it?**


	3. Shigami

**Here you go. It's from Kakashi's POV this time round. **

**The Free and the Hated **

_Why?_

_Why would anyone desire that scroll?_

No, that's not the right question. A far better question would be more along the lines of _which technique within it are they after?_ That particular scroll is of little value; at least in comparison to the extreme-priority scrolls that would've surrounded it. It had been in OS Room 4, along with some of the more potent techniques, most of them strictly guarded and totally forbidden. So why that one? Why scroll #036? None of the others were even touched.

All of this ran through my head as I made haste back to the Stronghold. While I owe them no impatience, being interrupted to assign my squad still seemed troublesome in light of recent events. Sakura and Sasuke did not seem to notice my on-time arrival, but then, they were there early. Naruto seemed surprised, but as with the others, that could just have easily been because he was late.

My train of thought was effectively derailed when I suddenly arrived. It was a squat building, unimaginatively painted and windowless. It was surrounded with yellow taping that read CAUTION DO NOT CROSS, attached to trees and posts and the large fence that already traced the properties' boundaries. Just inside the fence were many investigators of all kinds, most scribbling away busily on small notepads about one thing or another.

I ignored the various gumshoes and headed towards the building. Paused to note the lack of any disturbance at the front door. No broken locks, no shattered glass. Then I entered the building, stepping into the puddles that remained from the small lake that had laid claim to the ground floor earlier. I supposed they had drained most of it. From the overwhelming smell and green hue of the water, I guessed silently that the water had come from the nearby sewage pond.

I flashed one authorization card after another to guards at the various (and mostly soggy) security checkpoints. After a swift body search (during which I was disarmed), I was granted entrance to the upper levels, where the majority of the OS-level scrolls were kept under cautious lock and key. I headed up the stairs once more, up to the sixth floor. Found the room I was looking for (the massive steel door with seals all over it and a hole the size of a tennis ball bored through it was hard to miss) and strolled on in, absentmindedly wondering about the scroll again. I wonder if--

"HEY!" I jerked my head around to see a squat, round man whose face was rapidly turning purple. His trench coat, while normal in size, trailed comically around his ankles due to his lackluster sizing. A crooked hat adorning his head matched his badly angled nose. He was surrounded by several others, all snooping about the room. From the way he leered at me, I guessed that he thought quite a lot of his short self. I sighed. An intuition told me that he was the head honcho of all the investigators within the room, if not the building.

"Listen up, guy"--he paused to check my verification card--"This is my investigation, and I don't want you doing--"

"Yosh! I want a list of all the techniques contained in 036, coordinates of the water source, and an access point. We need to know how the hell our guy got in here. Get to it, boys!"

"--Any favors. Listen, Kakashi, these are my men, and I don't care how much you outrank me--you can be head detective to high hell for all I care--but these are _my_ men. _Mine_." He jammed two stubby thumbs into his chest for emphasis.

I just raised an eyebrow. He stared at me, exasperated, before giving a sigh of defeat and turning to his hesitant men. I guessed they were unacustomed to the sight of their leader taking orders. I laughed half-heartedly. _Well,_ I thought bitterly, _they'll have to get used to it._

"Well, you heard him. Get to it!" He shooed them away with a wave of his hands. I smiled as his men scrambled to the tasks, then turned to him once the room was evacuated.

"Alright, Joe, here's the news: Whoever stole the scroll would've only done so for two reasons: Either to sell it--"

"--In which case they would not care about the contents--"

"--Or because they required a technique within for one thing or another. Now, I doubt that anyone would break into such a compound as they did to steal a relatively low-value scroll and then ignore the truly potent scrolls around it if they were stealing for a paycheck; henceforth, they must have some sort of objective pertaining to the scroll's contents."

"Right. The only information we currently have about that is the water. We only have one witness, but he had plenty to say. He was at the front desk, said that a tidal wave crashed through the front door about 4, swept him away, said that he could smell it before it even hit him, that it was damn pungent. Hit his head on something, pretended to get knocked out. Few minutes later, when he thought things had settled, he snuck upstairs. Nearly slipped, said the stairs were real slick. Like the water had gone upstairs with the perp. When he got to this level, he said, it smelled real bad, far worse than the others. Saw the hole in the door, but couldn't open it. His dispel techniques couldn't cut it. Someone--we assume it to be the theif--reinforced this side--"-- He pointed to the ground for emphasis--"--With seals of their own. We had to remove them manually just to get in this morning."

"So you think our guy exited through the hole?"

He shrugged. "We don't even know if he entered that way. It could just be to throw us off. We don't know."

I bent over and scraped some greenish muck off of the oak hardwood. "Our guy made the hole with his water, right?"

"As far as we can tell."

I rubbed the slime between my fingers for a moment, then smelled it. Shuddered. "This is from a sewage pond, alright."

"You think?"

"Definitely. I--"

The door burst open as one of the investigators dashed in, snapping to attention midstep and very nearly falling on his face.

"Sir!" he said, "We have acquired a list of techniques for said scroll, sir!"

"Very good." I held out a hand. After hesitating briefly, the inspector tossed me a small scroll and excused himself. I turned to Joe.

"Shall we?" He nodded tentatively and leaned in towards me. I unraveled a thin red thread binding it and unrolled the scroll. We searched it with our eyes for a minute or two. Mostly genjutsus and a few advanced sealing and unsealing techniques. Nothing very dangerous. I unraveled the scroll further and my eyes shot open. I felt my heart skip a beat, then two as Joe and I poked the same item on the list and simultaneously said, "There."

I looked at him. He was shell-shocked as I was, with mouth agape and eyes like saucepans.

"I-If that's t-the one..." He stammered and cut off. I continued solemnly for him, "...Then this could be a problem..." He nodded grimly. This was terrible. We did not realize it before, but a monstrously powerful technique laid within the scroll. Something that had sat, dormant, for years...probably hidden among the many weak techniques in order to prevent anyone from finding it...my hands began to shake as I stared at the scroll.

Joe broke the silence,"W-...we need to put out an alert of some sort. Whoever plans to use the scroll must be a class-S shinobi, and they may be from a water village. We need to tell the Hokage, at least."

I just nodded. Shook myself mentally, and decided that I'd make the report...this needed to be kept as quiet as possible, at least until we were prepared to release information. I ran from the room and made haste to the Hokage Towers out a window. _That technique_, I kept thinking to myself, _that technique...this cannot end well..._

**Luvs2smooch: Review please!**


	4. My Travel

**Luvs2smooch: Awright, I finally updated. Check it:**

**The Free and the Hated**

Nearly 11:15. Darkness had eclipsed the bridge long ago. Where were they? Late, obviously, but why? Idiots, I thought, the both of them. I was anxious to be gone, probably more so than necessary. After all, I didn't even know where we were going. Sakura had the stupid scroll. So I couldn't do a damn thing until she decided to get her ass in gear and mosey on down to the bridge. Her truancy had freaking crippled me.

At least, that was how it felt.

I had learned a lot of things over those few days. One of the biggest, most influential, was that I couldn't trust my intuition. If it wasn't outright wrong, then it would usually end up pacing me in circles. Thinking back, it was probably the radical mindset I had developed, my obtuse angle of thought that kept me wading through the stilted hatred of my youth. As it ended up, my savior had quickly turned on me, morphing into some beast I never would've guessed had once saved my skin on a regular basis.

Problem was, I really only knew how to deal with people who were trying to kill me. I knew what to do when a boulder was hurtling down at me from a rainy peak, knew how to act when being tailed by countless assassins, all seeking my life to preserve their own. In short, I knew how to keep myself alive. In the obvious sense, anyways. Blatant, outright situations, where all information needed was relatively obvious to an acute eye. I had those down pat. But people…well, that was where I kept tripping over my own feet.

I had no social experience at all, simply because, I had never really had a social life. No real friends, a few people I could trust, but that was it, really. Why learn social skills when there was no chance of ever using them? That was the logic I had followed, and it had come back to bite me in the ass once I had gotten over my own emotional roadblocks. Quite decent of it, really, quite nice. As such, I quickly learned to ignore the majority of my intuition. Because it followed that logic, too.

It had survived alongside me, so it went by the same silly rules I always did. To be blunt, and I suppose rather metaphoric, I had educated my own enemy. The epitome of irony, wouldn't you say?

oo00oo

They arrived around 4 minutes later. First Sasuke, then Sakura. Oddly enough, I noted, Sasuke seemed…well, he seemed about as close to out of breath as he ever had. He had just arrived in a plume of white smoke when I began to spy Sakura in the fogged distance. She had waltzed on calmly, nonchalant. Perhaps uncaring. Her eyes, I could see, were looking off into nothingness. She was thinking, thinking hard, in a totally different place. Neither said a word. We stood for minutes on end before I realized we were waiting for Kakashi, waiting on a messenger that would not be arriving. The habit had forced a silent vigil upon us. I decided to break the silence.

"Sakura." She didn't look up. I said it again, with more force. Still, she didn't even flinch. I pursed my lips and tapped her on the shoulder. At that little burst of contact, she jerked up and gave me a look of perplexed surprise. Odd. For her, I mean. She had never before shown even a hint of what clouded her face now.

"The scroll?" Out of nowhere, she walloped me an uppercut. I crashed up and back, and hit the ground, hard. Relatively used to this, I brushed it off and saw that she had the damned scroll out. It was open, and she was poring over it. I leaped up. Ran over. She turned suddenly to hide it from my vision, before snapping it shut briskly a moment later. I frowned at her. Then decided that pursuing it would just delay the matter at hand. So I just shrugged and asked the question.

"Well, if you must know," She said, as though it were her personal business, "We are to head towards the Mist village…" She cut off, frowning off into the dark, thinking again.

"Well, let's go then!" I couldn't have been more eager if I tried. I hauled my pack higher on my back and started walking, hoping that they would follow suit. They didn't. Sasuke just stood, still panting, while Sakura stared on at whatever it was I couldn't see.

"Come on…let's—" Neither of them were looking at me. "SASUKE! SAKURA! LET'S MOVE IT! COME!" I gripped his wrist. Yanked. He moved an inch before stumbling and stared at me, incredulous.

"Can we please—"

"Naruto's right, Sasuke-kun—let's get going!" She ran off in the wrong direction, sandals slapping the old boards. I reached after her and nearly called, then heard her rubber soles squeaking. She corrected herself, but managed to run smack into me anyways.

"Naruto," She said, dragging out the last few syllables as she always did when she was angered, still clutching her forehead, "What in god's name are you doing?" She didn't seem to notice that I had been stationary, that she had provided all the movement. But I let it be. At least she was still enthusiastic.

I dusted myself off, saying "Let's just get going, okay?" Sasuke finally seemed to come back to Earth, but he still did nothing but stare at me. Like he was thinking, pondering some important decision that somehow…someway…involved me. I began to stare back at him, straight into his deep onyx eyes. He took far longer than I expected to realize I was looking right back at him, and quickly diverted his gaze. That told me that whatever it was, was real big, real tough, and real vital.

I doubted that I would like the outcome either way.

oo00oo

We three made haste into the forest, to the Village of the Mist, following a trail we had known by heart since the early days of our partnership. It snaked about, leaving us trees to leap between and rivers to ford. We reeled in each scene that lay before us, night after night, only to reveal a new horizon void of anything. We saw nothing at all for quite a time, sleeping by day and traveling whenever the darkness afforded it. The utter silence of the humid nights left us without the will to speak, leading us to complement the natural lack of noise with our own. While noisy, the days were much warmer than the nights and allowed the sleep to come with ease.

And so we traveled on, repeating the cycle of our inversed nights and days until we reached an odd little checkpoint of sorts. The scroll detailed quite clearly that we were to remain at the rendezvous point-- a small clearing rife with rocky outcroppings—until we were met by an ambassador. According to Sakura. She would allow neither Sasuke nor I near it. 'You'll just rip it!' she would always say, a nagging, broken record. We just contributed it to a lack of sleep.

In any case, we made camp. We shortly had a fire going, and huddled around it. I'd like to think that we were hunched around the fire so late into the night because we were anxious to meet whoever was coming, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Sasuke (who's eyes I could still feel drilling holes in my head) and Sakura (who's still glanced off into the black around us now and then) didn't care much. I sighed and poked the fire again. How dull. My thoughts took no leave in wandering; I contemplated the plan, slowly falling into place back at Konoha, thought of the odd ambassador who was to instate connections at this very opening, and pondered the odd behavior of my partners; they were totally out of focus and never seemed on-task.

I poked the fire deeper, then dropped my rapidly burning stick and shuddered. I felt something. A freezing shock of pre-cognition shot across my spine. It replaced the previous warmth of the fire with stunning speed. Something was coming…I tensed up, hoping that my two partners weren't too numb to notice. I waited, listening, slowly forming a hand symbol, hoping my nameless foe would make the first strike.

I was duly rewarded.

**Cue cheap cliffy! Don't worry, I'm gonna update it again soon. I have most of the next chap wirtten already.**


	5. My Warmup

**Luvs2smooch: Yay! Read on.**

**The Free and the Hated**

It happened. I felt it, it was coming, I just needed to give it a moment…it was coming…

Then the time was right.

I jerked up and slammed my palm into the swirling dust and stones at my feet and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!", then leaped back and up. Twisted in mid air. One fluid motion, took me 1.5 seconds, I was still airborne.

Then, something shiny. It flickered below me, something metal shooting past, to where I had been moments before. Then, a bang. An overgrown toad, fat and squat with amber skin and a heavily tailored robe, materialized out of a foggy white cloud and fell a foot or two to the ground, landing on the fire with a bouncy _blump_ sound. The light was gone in seconds, totally extinguished. The thrown kunai, meant for a little spot just between my shoulder blades, bounced harmlessly off the creature's jiggling buttocks. Everything was black, the dancing shadows gone as pure night fell into existence.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

After all, it was classic. A battle around the campfire, they were damn sure that I would just come out and engage them. They needed the light, but figured that I did as well, so they left it alight and assumed I would too. The fact, though, was that my vision was not limited to sunlit days and flickering fires as theirs were.

In layman's terms, they needed the fire's light. And I didn't.

My regular vision faded with the light, then flickered back, only replaced by the monotone, reddish bleach that I knew resided only in my own eyes. I could now see the sweat dripping down their brows, individual beads glowing bright. I could see the shock, the mingled stress and surprise wiping the pleasant smiles from their stupid faces. Hell, I could see the ants crawling on the trees 500 yards behind them. Thanks to that furry friend I kept, restrained deep in my mental recesses, I could see better without the sun than I ever could with.

All this ran through my mind as I landed on my feet, facing my opponents. Four or five of them, in identical clothes, forming a tidy semi-circle. I smiled. They were awestruck.

I leaned down and hit all floors. The dest clouded around me as I slapped the ground once, then twice. Threw my eyes around, savoring their stunned faces, just before a shining band across each forehead stole my attention. Headbands. Sound Village headbands. Before I knew what I was doing, an anger not entirely my own surged with ravage speed through my veins, and I exploded at the foe closest to me, charging, on hands and feet, head first.

I caught him hard in the stomach. Felt his soft gut compress around the shape of my skull and heard him gasping as the air was forced from his lungs. I flipped and landed on my feet again as he was thrown backwards, hard, into a tree. I heard it shake, heard leaves fluttering down from the old limbs, invisible to anyone but me.

I paused for a beat, felt my heart pulsating with adrenaline. I stole a glane to my left. The ninja standing there was still out of sorts, and I did no more than point at him. Within milliseconds a blubbery, pinkish tongue shot at him ith a wet _schlurp_, from out of my field of vision. It struck him, wrapping around his body before he had a chance to resist. His lack of reflexes had finished him. The fat tongue swung up briefly, then down, then up again, hard, flinging the man high into the air. His scream gradually died as he disappeared into the gleaming stars.

Then, a noise. From somewhere to my left. The stuttering babble of a man too stunned to run or even speak coherently. I whipped my head around. Smiled. Another Sound ninja, standing out against the wild forest wall like a match flame. I charged him, yelling. Vaguely, though, I heard someone else shouting something, just behind me…shouting something familiar…

I realized what was happening a moment later when I was blown back by a wave of heat and a massive flash as the man was engulfed in a blazing fireball. He screamed for a moment, then collapsed to the ground as the flames slowly extinguished themselves. _Sasuke's conscious,_ I thought, _and not a moment too soon. _I pivoted around on a heel, but was disappointed again. Sakura had the last enemy wrapped up in a headlock. He was bent over, gasping. Veins stood out on his neck and her arms, and I could see she wasn't going to let go. The battle was over. Not that it had been much of a battle. Just a warm-up, really, although for what I knew not.

oo00oo

A loud bang from behind me, then another flash. My toad was gone, I knew, and Sasuke had relit the squashed firewood. I smiled to myself. To be expected.

I glanced about in the woods around me, using the last remnants of my night vision to discern if more opponents were near. I saw nothing, and as the red faded to the orange glow of firelight, I turned back to Sakura and her victim. Waltzed slowly, arrogantly, to the man she had captured. When I was in front of him, I gazed about lazily, as though he were the last thing I cared about. Then I bent at the waist, down to his level, and asked him a simple question, into his face:

"Orochimaru?" His face tightened and his heavy breathing dissipated at the name. He slowly turned his face up, to look at me. I could see the painfully puzzled expression in his wide eyes and quivering chin. I repeated myself:

"Is it Orochimaru?"

"N-no…the chief…we were sent on—on—" He cut off. I slapped him across the face, hard.

"On what? Spit it out." He stared at me for a moment, incredulous, stunned.

"Reconnaissance…" He cut off again, and whirled his head around, as if he expected to be reprimanded for this vital revelation of information at any moment. I laughed.

"I'm no fool. Do not annoy me with your silly fibs. Your village and leader have been inactive for years, and now you wish to tell me that you captured high-level mission information on your own?" Sure, the mission wasn't exactly under high-level security, but he didn't know that. Such a tale would only further whatever insecurities he had about the information.

"I--"

"So who gave you the information?"

"Am I supposed to--"

"It was Orochimaru, wasn't it?"

"What makes you--"

"Say it!"

He paused. Whipped his head around again, then leaned towards me as much as a man in a headlock can, and whispered, tentatively, his voice shaking.

"How did you know?"

I was silent for a moment as his eyes burned holes in my head. I straightened up and smiled at him.

"I didn't."

There was a small _whupp_ as my hand struck the back of his neck, then a pained gasp and a thump as he fell limp to the rocky terrain below. There was not a noise for several minutes more, not until a man came hurtling back down and smacked the ground with a light crunch. Then silence prevailed.

**Luvs2smooch: Well?**


	6. Confusing Revelations

**luvs2smooch: Hey there. I decided to try something different, so it starts from Kakashi's POV, then switches to Naruto's haflway. Try not to get disoriented.**

**The Free and the Hated**

There!

There, ahead! The Hokage Towers! Finally…

I leaped about from one building to another, making as much haste as possible on my improvised route. _The report must be made_, I thought, _the report must be made…_Nothing else mattered at that point. The Hokage had to know, no matter anything else…

I landed on a staircase halfway up the building with a light thud, my feet scuffing on the roughly paved surface. I whipped about and dashed up the stairs, three at a time, desperate…_She must know… _

Wait! The door! Back there…I nearly missed it. I pivoted on a heel. Gripped the knob with unintentional strain, futilely attempting to compose myself. My heart still pounded heavily against my ribcage, and my temples were throbbing…I cursed myself. Loosened my grip on the knob and realized my hands were still shaking. Tentatively, cursively, I eased open the door. Closed my eyes. Inhaled deeply. Then slowly opened them again.

"Hokage-sama." I narrowly managed to keep the crack out of my voice and the excitement out of my tone. In front of me lay a wide, ovular, sparsely furnished room. A chair, a plant, against the rounded walls, and then an archaic desk of wood in the center of the end opposite of me. Behind it, Tsunade. She leaned forward on clenched palms, her blonde hair spilling onto the messily stacked papers adorning the desk. Beside her, Shizune, young and pretty. An oddly dressed pig was draped across her arms.

But all I consciously noticed was Tsunade's eyes. They were boring holes through my head, and I realized that I had been standing there, just standing, for the better part of a minute. I mentally shook myself and cleared my throat.

Five minutes later, she knew everything I did. And it showed. Her eyes now stared down, straight through the ground, intense, wide. Shizune, at a loss for words, had dropped the pig and was leaning heavily against the pale walls. No one spoke. The silence was painful in its intensity. It had to end. So I said the only thing I could think of.

"Do you think it was a Mist ninja?"

Tsunade seemed to snap out of some nameless trance and jerked her eyes up to meet mine. They narrowed.

"What?" She spoke deliberatley, with an unspoken anger, as though the news had added years of stress to her system. Which it probably had.

"You will be informed as deemed necessary, detective."

She said this as though I was out of line, shaking her head at me. I stood for a moment longer, head cocked, rather confused, before she waved a hand at me. I knew the gesture well enough, but to see it from someone I so respected was…odd. Quite odd. An anger welled up just below my throat, and I stood stock still a moment longer before vanishing from the spot with a crack and a plume of smoke.

Night. It had grown very late. Lights everywhere had been vanquished by a humid night. People were slowly retiring to their homes, and I was no exception.

The evening found me in my shabbily tiled bathroom. I frowned into the dirty, small mirror, and a familiar (albeit unmasked) face frowned back at me. What an unproductive day. All the investigation had turned up was bad news that didn't lead us anywhere anyways. The Hokage had her panties in a knot about it. The only other tidbit we found was the water source, which I was fairly sure of already. Even Joe was a bit more of a stickler. I shook my head at myself. Pathetic.

I dragged myself to the mattress on my floor, stepping easily over the varicolored garbage that littered it, accumulated from too many late nights. The sheets were scattered and thick and greasy, and as I hauled them over my tired form, all I could feel was an emptiness, a sort of hollow depression. We hadn't accomplished much, there was still so much uncertain, and I had a sneaking suspicion that something was out of place…

oo00oo

"Well? Naruto?" A voice, behind me, feminine and curious, slowly shifting in volume as it grew closer, then farther, then closer again. Invisible to most.

"I'm wondering as well." Another voice, deeper, darker, more resentful. Ahead of me. It changed volume too, but in the opposite trend as the first, quieter, then louder, then quieter again.

I pondered the obvious question for a moment, and shot a nervous glance in each direction. The tree branches surrounding us were soaked with my personal red bleach, and I wondered how my teammates were able to place their leaps between them so accurately with only pure intuition. Without what lay hidden within me.

An answer for the unspoken question arrived soon enough, and after a debate as to whether I should halt or continue (continuing won), I spoke, lightly, quickly, adrenaline still pumping through my system:

"You get the same answer I gave our little victim. I didn't know." _Surprise_, I thought. A sharp intake of breath from both of them, and I knew I was right. Sakura nearly stopped, too, but I spoke again:

"In all honesty, I just thought it would make him nervous. The last thing he--let alone the entirety of his village--wanted is any more association of any kind with that long-tongued bastard. I figured that, at the very least, he would name the true informer in defense of his villages' reputation."

"And?" Sakura seemed a little confused.

"He did. Which complicates things. It means that Orochimaru is still after Konoha…"

"But...again?" Sakura again. Confused.

I shrugged.

"Why did he attack Konoha in the first place? He hates our guts, he dealt a blow, and now he wants to do it again."

Silence. The branches we leaped from shook with our presence, and the apprehension was thick enough to cut.

"We are… going towards Konoha…aren't we?" Sasuke finally spoke, his voice shaking, and I wondered what he had to be nervous about. Other than the possibility of another cataclysmic attack on our village in the near-future, I mean. Other than the obvious.

Then I realized something. They were following me. For the first time in years. I smiled. They seemed truely shaken.

Rather resentfully, however, I responded: "No. No, right now, it's safest to just go in circles for a while. They found us, we don't know how, and someone might still know where we are, or where we're going. We need to shake them--if they're there--before we return."

Technically, though, we didn't. If Orochimaru really did have his thumb (or, more aptly, tongue) in this pie, then whoever had attacked was aware of Konoha's location. Those who attacked were also fairly amateur, so it was likely safe to assume that anyone following us now would either be similar work to us, or easily disposed of by even the gate keepers. Other that the unprofessional sense that came with leading an enemy of any sort home, it really just came down to pride.

And to the ifs. Way too many ifs in this equation.

Because what if those who attacked were meant to be weak, so as to lower our guard? What if they had recovered from their façade of weakness, and were stalking us now, hyped up and more powerful than ever? Or, what if it was meant to distract us, to bring us away from the village, for some sort of capture? Or for another attack on the village itself? I had taken down Gaara, so maybe now the ringleader saw me as a bigger problem.

Or maye I was just paranoid.

But why throw caution into the wind?

_The wind never seemed to like me anyways_, I thought, as we continued, silent as death, along our false path through the woods in the dead of night. It was meant only to deceive, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were deceiving ourselves...

**luvs2smooch: Yay! Finished a chappy!**


	7. The Misplaced Squad

Blank. Nothing. Emptiness. Total, utter, deathless. Surrounding me, a shroud, a fog, a hateful barrier of non-existence strangling me. I writhe in its invisible grasp and it constricts me tighter. The air leaves. My lungs close. All goes dark, all fades, the nothing becomes black…

And then, children…three of them, they walk away, into a sunset…backs to me…a girl, two boys…one turns to wave…and then they, too, fade to bleak shadow…

My eyes slam open, but I don't move. Sweat drips, cold, down my brow, my arms, my chest. The blankets, soaked. It falls into my eyes. I squint at the ceiling blinking as I think, remember.

And then it hits me.

Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura.

* * *

"…What do you mean, we aren't going to do anything?!?" I was enraged; what was she thinking?

She raised her voice as well, "You heard me quite well, Kakashi; off and lost though they may be, there is little to nothing we can realistically do to aid them. We have no idea of their current whereabouts, no idea of their motivation, and no coherent reason to pursue the matter."

"B-but…they…" I looked down and cursed myself.

She softened her demeanor. "Listen, Kakashi, I know they are your pupils, and I know that you value their lives as I do yours. However, quite simply, it would currently be in our best interest to simply leave them be. They will find their way back soon enough, if they wish to."

I raised my head. If they _wished_ to?

"Hokage-sama, do you mean to say—"

"Kakashi, please…I have work to attend to.

She closed her eyes and swiveled her chair to face out the windows. She wasn't just making excuses; her desk was piled with papers and scrolls and pamphlets of all types, however her words still distilled my mood. Did she think they might have some reason to _not_ return?

Still, I had obviously been dismissed. I shuffled out of the office, not simply poofing off because I needed a moment to think. I couldn't do a damned thing about my squad, so I pondered a problem I _could_ fix: the crime scene. It wasn't exactly orthodox; the entrance was seemingly made by a tidal wave, simply sweeping through, somehow breaking the glass. Considerable force would've been necessary for such a thing, so it must've the handiwork of some kind of expert—someone well-versed in water-related ninjutsu. And I knew the perfect place to begin searching.

I looked up, and found myself on the stairway leading down the Hokage Towers. I gazed off in the distance, then leaped and vanished.

Milliseconds later, I stood in front of the Kiekyolo Theatre; I knew it to be a favored thinking spot for Asuma. I entered; it was a large, gaudy place, full of streamers and signs and lanterns. Despite its rather flamboyant appearance, however, the musicality of its exceptional shows were second to none, hence Asuma's likening to the place—it turned out the fellow was a bit of a connoisseur. I had barely to look around before I spotted him, splayed across a bench sitting just outside the wide, loud double doors that lead into one of the massive theaters.

I strolled on over, opening up my latest copy of _Romance Island _as I didfor an air of nonchalance. He still hadn't noticed me. I kept walking, and he didn't look up. I stopped, just in front of him. Still, he stared off into space. I cleared my throat and suppressed a chuckle when he jumped.

"K-Kakashi!" he stammered, "Please, do—do not…" He cleared his throat, seeming to compose himself. He tried again.

"Kakashi, how are you doing?" This time, he looked a bit more joking, as though my interruption was merely a child jabbing him in the side as he passed on a crowded street. Still, he seemed to shake slightly at his own lying airiness.

"I'm quite well, my friend, though rather puzzled at _the case_—" I looked at him, a glimmer of interrogation in my eye, and he nodded a quick affirmative, "—and was curious if I could come back on you for that…eh…favor I granted you a while back."

He reddened slightly. "F-favor? I don't know what you're talking about!" He smiled sheepishly and scratched at the mat of hair on his head.

I rolled my eyes. "Asuma," I reminded him, "both you and I know that the one reason she spoke to you was my own persuasion in your direction. I could have easily taken the prize myself, but I chose to pass it up in your favor. Just because you chose to ignore my goodwill does not mean it didn't occur. I believe you owe me, at least to a point."

He blushed a little deeper, then looked down and kicked at the ground like a denounced child. "What do you want?"

"Simple: visit Kirigakure, and see if you can't locate our old friend, Momochi Faikujin." He cocked his head, obviously puzzled. I smiled. I suppose I can't expect _him _to know the guy…

"Just…remember the name, and ask around. He's well-known enough to get more than a few enthusiastic responses."

"But…why?"

I shrugged, then said, "Hey, what harm can it do? The guy's a mizunin, right? Just ask him if there's been any…_odd_ stories of late. He always has a few to spread around."

Asuma just shrugged. "Hey, if you say so…"

"Trust me on this one…oh, and if you chance upon my pupils, please ask them to return. Their task is now quite outdated."

* * *

Dawn. The young sun blared orange in the distance, a golden face peering warily over the horizon.

I'd been up for quite a while—hours, in fact—just watching it rise, watching and waiting and feeling the red of my eyes fade out just as the sun faded in. I was crouched, high in a tree, overlooking a massive berth of a path in the middle of the forest. It broke off into dozens of miniscule trails, one of which led into our most recent camp. I suppose you could call it me a lookout, but that's not why I had relegated the company of my squad mates—I just longed for a few hours to myself, just a while to recollect my thought and converse a little with my…inner beast, if you will.

"…Well, what if I just used the Anamizu again?"

_Don't be dumb, that only works on man-made doors, and you know it._

"So the door_ isn't_ man made?"

_Of course not; it's been around since long before man's time. _

"Then why—or how—is it so heavily sealed?"

_Don't forget, you silly humans get all off your techniques—each and every one of them—from us._

"So if they're the same sealing techniques, why won't the same _un_sealing techniques work?"

_Well…that is, you see…ahh, just shut up, ya dumb kid. What do you know?_

I chuckled.

"Not too much, but that's why I'm asking."

_Well, try to keep the questions relevant, will you?_

"I…hello, what's this?" I had sensed something, a presence in the distance.

_Small troupe, about 6 men, all full grown and advancing. They're not aware of us quite yet—_

"Are they ever?"

_--And it doesn't seem that they'll be leaving the path anytime soon._

"Traders, you think?"

_Whatever they are, I think they're heading to the Land of Waves._

"Definitely traders, then."

_Rightfully so; they're probably just lining up to see that little bridge of yours. _

"Hey, I deserved that bridge!"

_I believe the proper word is we. We, together, saved those silly villagers from Momochi, and it is only thanks to you actually having a body that I am not credited._

"I'll be sure to include you in my memoir."

_Your what?_

"Let's go. I want to see if the others are up."

_Fine…_

* * *

At the new camp, Sasuke was awake, already tending a fire. Again. He seemed rather fond of the things, understandably so. He dumped an armful of logs into a makeshift pit the previous night and lit them up with a quick gokakyu. Apparently satiated, he plunked down on a larger log off to the side. Sakura stumbled out of her tent, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Sasuke, Sakura," I said, kicking up dust as I landed next to the fire in the tiny clearing, "Make breakfast and make haste. We leave in one hour" I held up a single finger.

Sakura tried to respond, but her thought was overcome by a tremendous yawn. She tried again, but I just held up my finger and said, "One hour," again. Then I leaped off, just to see her reaction.

I stood just in the shade of the trees, in the ring of towering trees surrounding the clearing. Sakura was stunned for a moment, then I watched her storm about, shouting obscenities—most of which were clearly understandable, even at this distance—and kicking up dust before settling into a dignified pout on a log opposite of Sasuke's. I laughed.

_How childish._

"Of me or her?"

_Hmm…Both. _

"You think?"

_So you don't then? You think it's perfectly alright to screw with her head? _

"Not necessarily, but—"

_You do realize she is likely the only non-hostile female contact you will have for possibly years?_

"Well, I—"

_Just try not to be too big-headed, please. When you're unhappy, I'm unhappy, get it?_

I mumbled and jammed my hands in my pockets.

"Right, right…"

_Heh, well you just gotta—oh, FUCK! Naruto, get the others and RUN! Hostile on the approach!_

"Hostile on the—"

That was all I was able to say before I let a bit of instinct take over. I hit the ground just as something schizzed through the air just where my head had been. It sliced through the bushes and underbrush I was hiding behind, and then just through Sasuke's fire, making a slight flicker. I hoped that would be warning enough for them to get out. Then I flipped onto my back and stuck my legs straight into the air, then kicked them down. Milliseconds later, my enemy connected with my falling legs. He struck the ground and I jumped onto my feet with the momentum. My enemy grunted in surprised pain, and I turned and ran into the clearing. Sasuke and Sakura had gotten up, and had just gotten moving.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Naruto, what's—"

"I said, LET'S GO!"

I picked up the pace and grabbed Sasuke in one arm and Sakura in the other. Then I leaped up, as far as I could, into the forest beyond. I kept moving, jumping from branch to branch at top speed for a good ten minutes. Then I hit the forest floor, releasing my passengers. I counted to about 4, and threw a fine handful of shuriken skyward. The resonating _shlikk _told me they had connected with flesh, and our pursuer fell down to strike the forest floor with a crunch. He didn't make a sound, and I guessed he couldn't have if he wanted to.

Sasuke and Sakura just stood, staring in awed wonder. I realized they still hadn't become used to my real potential, and smiled inwardly. My inner beast was howling with laughter.

I crouched to investigate the corpse, and found another sound headband. I removed it, adding it to my growing collection in my pack slung across my pack. That makes six. I looked around; Sakura looked confused, and Sasuke seemed more worried than ever.

"What's with all these Sound ninja?" she asked.

"Well, we can assume that Orochimaru doesn't want us to establish connections with Kirigakure for one reason or another; I'm glad we managed to be gone as soon as we were, for I'm quite sure that this fellow—" I kicked at the corpse lying amongst the leaves and twigs, "—was little but a tripwire."

"Which means that there's more out there?"

"Which means that we need to get going again."

Sakura and Sasuke turned to make leave.

_Way to take charge, hero-boy._

"I try."

"Hmm?" Sakura turned around, smiling, "What was that, Naruto?"

I blushed lightly, then said, "Not a thing, Sakura. Let's you and I and Sasuke make haste. We still must find Kirigakure if we are to finish our mission."

_What's that supposed to mean? I thought we had our own agenda. _

Hey, I thought, there's safety in numbers, and last time I checked, villages tend to have plenty of people in them.

_Safety? Psssh. He's just some snake freak._

Snake freak or no, he took down the Hokage. That means he's big and strong and none too nice. Safety is exactly what we need right now. The plan doesn't mean jack if we aren't around to execute it.

_Kirigakure it is, then._


	8. Mysteries in Kirigakure

Night...No, early morning. Humid. Camp, just outside of Kirigakure. The same tents, the same logs, the fire, attributed to Sasuke. A pan across the makeshift hearth sizzled with a few eggs atop. Breakfast. We ate quickly and packed up. All of us were eager for headway into Kirigakure.

We entered the town noiselessly...No inspection, no interruption. No real security, save a few burly hustlers stationed at doors here and there. The three of us were able to wander about the fair-sized crowds unburdened, though we did so more than a little aimlessly. But hey, we were all a little tired, and I figure a quick break before the action starts back up again can hardly hurt. So I allowed them to run amuck.

Sakura gazed about the cloth and flower stalls, window shopping delightfully. I watched her with humor as she circled a particular flower time and time again, seeking a good look from every thinkable angle. She would then pause and inhale deeply, obviously enjoying the voluptuous scent—her face seemed to melt in pleasure. And then it was back to the circling…

I looked around for Sasuke. Nothing at first, but slowly I noticed a mop of onyx hair floating just above a low wall in one of the various weapon shops. I moved slightly closer, and he became visible. He was eying the lethal displays surrounding him with a near-humorously false interest; I, however, could feel his eyes boring through the back of my skull whenever I turned away. He was still thinking about it, whatever it was. I grunted, wishing he'd get it over with.

_So what do_ you _think it is, then?_

Hmm?, I thought, What do_ I_ think?

_Yes, and don't give me any shit about how it doesn't bother you, either. I can see the malcontent in your chakra. It's bugging you, alright._

Okay, so it is a little troublesome. But I can't stop him from thinking, can I?

_I suppose not; not unless you removed his head, anyways._

We've been over this; that's not an option.

_Yes, well, back to the question: What_ do _you think he's thinking?_

Hmm…Perhaps he sees me as a rival with his relationship with Sakura?

_What are you, stupid? He doesn't like her, and she doesn't like you._

Hey, it's getting better. She smiled at me yesterday, you saw it.

_That's still bullshit._

Okay, so maybe it has something to do with me finally showing some of my…ahem…experience?

_That would make a little more sense, but he was looking at you like that on the bridge a few days ago, remember? That was before you whooped all those sound nin._

Oh, yeah…Maybe—

"OI! Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, "We're gonna start looking for the Mizukage's office. You coming or what?"

I yanked myself away from my thoughts. Sasuke waved at me from the opposing end of the market. I blinked and was there. He started back, so nearly gasping that I could smell the malcontent on his breath.

I smiled.

"I'm coming, don't you worry."

I marched past him in silent victory, while he stood for a moment more, slightly stunned. He must have regained his composure within a few seconds, because I could hear the scraping of his calm walk moments after. Still, I rejoiced silently at his wonder.

_Enjoying yourself?_

Only a little.

--

We had been walking for nearly an hour, but the city just seemed to loop in and over itself, unending in its confusing alleys and back-ways. Before I knew what had occurred, I was reacquainted with the marketplace near the entrance. Sasuke was leading our little troupe, and I grunted before speaking, more than a little gruff:

"Sasuke, are you quite sure you know where you're going?"

"Huh? I—of course I do! Let me just—" He heaved a sigh and pulled a map from nowhere.

"Why are we going to the Mizukage, anyways? Just for protection?"

I eased out a breath.

"Yes, to a point; however, we mustn't forgo our objective. We never found our ambassador, so we might as well go right to the top for help."

"But won't we seem…"

"Cowardly? Hardly—we're a bunch of genin."

"No—just—troublesome…"

"Hey, it's their problem. They're the ones that fucked up with the ambassador. They're gonna have to deal with us directly now. I'm just surprised no-one's confronted us yet—we don't exactly fit it—"I motioned to my clothing, then opened my arms to include hers and Sasuke's—"And I got the feeling that this was kind of important."

"Like you said, we're just a bunch of genin; how important of a mission could we get?"

I burst out laughing, relying on a nearby wall for support. My hand landed on a wanted poster.

"That's a low blow, Sakura, no matter how true."

"Hey, I'm just—"

"Ahh! Here we are!"

Sasuke had finally made sense of the map.

"Her office is…that way!" He pointed gleefully, wearing the smile of a child who had just pleased his teacher with a complex equation scrawled on a blackboard.

Sakura smiled, and the two almost ran off. Myself, I was more occupied with the wanted poster. I had torn it from the filthy wall it had adorned; it rested in my shaking hands.

"…Naruto?" Sakura took a step towards me. I started by instinct and jammed the paper into my back pocket.

"Let's go." I leaped off, roughly following Sasuke's beckoning finger. Yet Sakura resisted my attempt to change the subject:

"Naruto, what was that? What's wrong?"

I dismissed her with a "Nothing," and continued on. She fell silent.

_Wow…why was your face on that poster?_

If only I knew…

-

"…But—"

"No buts! Return to Konoha at once. You are not welcome here."

The Mizukage sat on a festive cushion. A small table adorned with teacups and doilies lay in front of her. Her face was painted a chalky white and her lips were bolstered with bold red lipstick. Flowers danced fancily across her kimono, and her hair was held up in a traditional bun. She had a kind of plain, old-fashioned beauty about her, but her tone differed. We were on the opposition, a foreign bunch of kids who had-- apparently--invaded her city, marauded her market, hassled her villagers. Logic—or truth, for that matter—didn't seem to hold much sway right now.

"We did nothing." I spoke calmly, not giving up the cause.

"Leave…now. I'd hate to use force."

I pursed my lips, but her face showed me that her answer would not change. I turned my back and advanced on the door. I heard a ripping of paper, and she spoke one last time:

"I…"

"Hmm?" I turned to face her again, hoping an unexpected altering of thoughts.

And saw blood painted across her serene chalk face. A fat knife, coated in blood, protruded from her neck at a sickening angle. Her eyes vanished into the back of her head. Not that it mattered. She obviously wasn't seeing much of anything now.

A faint gasp escaped her lips as she collapsed to the side, revealing a tiny hole in the paper wall behind her. The knife's hole.

Sakura let out a shriek and Sasuke gasped. I turned to them, saw their panic stricken faces. We had two options.

Option 1: We could beat feet and hope that no-one would make the connection between us being the last there and her death, and hope things would be worked out in due time. This made enough sense, as we could easily make the claim that we perceived getting caught up in this whole mess as possibly mission-delaying, and that we merely sought to complete the job.

Option 2: Stay and hope to work things out the civil way, cooperating with Kirigakure's authorities to track the killers.

I heard a voice roaring in anger from behind me. I turned to a beefy man holding a fat log as though it were a weapon. Which it probably was.

"It's you wanted Konoha punks!" He seemed in enough of a fit of anger as it was. Then he noticed the Mizukage's body, sprawled across the floor in a puddle of blood. At first, his face fell and he became silent as death. Slowly, his hunched form began trembling.

"You…" There was a tingle of bloodlust in his eyes.

Well, that eliminated Option 2 well enough.

"Time to go!"

I shot forward and landed a foot on his head, using it as a platform. I bounded straight upwards and rammed a half-assed Rasengan into he ceiling. It broke through well enough and I vaulted up. I vanished into the distant forest with a leap. There I hid, amongst the insects and animals, waiting, hoping Sasuke and Sakura would know to follow. I sighed into the leaves surrounding me.

_Well, at least now we're wanted for a reason._


End file.
